This was a fascinating read and would make an excellent blog. I had never come across the term "Mary Sue" either until I started writing fanfiction. I recognized some of these pitfalls in my earlier stories. This is great advice for both novice and experienced authors since these lessons often bear repeating. I also love the bits of humor you have injected throughout.

You know, I'm a little impressed and disgusted that you can throw up a little bit inside of your brain. Most of us usually throw up in our mouths. Um, bravo?

Hahahahaha oh god you're welcome :)

Thanks :) I learned a lot today.

Um you do know that Gary Stus exist, first of all, and that there are people that do call male characters sues.

Example:

The Doctor from Doctor Who (Has the solution to freaking everything and always seems to get a potential love interest with every season)

Harry Potter (The dude is literally slated to kill off Voldemort in a prophecy)

The problem with your essay is assuming that people perceive mary sues to automatically women. In truth, the term mary sue is just used to describe a character that
1. is perfect
2. has ridiculous sex appeal
3. is infallible (or is not considered to be ever wrong)
4. is incredibly unique for the universe
5. is a wish fulfillment character

Now then, another thing.

Characters can inhibit mary sue like traits (Harry Potter, Doctor Who, Max Ride, etc) but they still can be compelling characters. Their mary sueish ness makes them interesting.

The problem comes when the character becomes too much of a mary sue. Bella Swan is a mary sue character and sucks ass

If you can, field-test articles of clothing by seeing how well you can walk in high heels, how fast you can run in a narrow skirt, or how easy it is to carry around a sword-length item. -Yeah.

I was interested in this idea you had but I had increasing difficulty following it towards the end, because it started to lose structure and seemed like a rant. Nevertheless, I feel that this article and the one on summaries makes important contributions to the skill set of budding writers!

Making a convincing main character has always been my biggest weakness, so thanks for the read! It was particularly enlightening how you handled the sexism difficulty with regard to female protagonists.

I really enjoyed reading this! Plenty of people just pick apart Mary-Sues without looking at how they can be so easily avoided, and furthermore, why people do it in the first place. I was particularly interested in the point leading up to [you have just validated their worldview] (Not that I've ever flamed anyone on the premise of unoriginal writing).

I have a few minor suggestions regarding your formatting. The paragraph beginning with [So, raise your hand] following point 3 was a little confusing, I was unsure if it was still part of the same point, as the preceding sentence was [I'll get back to that point in a minute.]. I have a similar complaint for point 4; it was difficult to tell when it actually ended. Paragraphing in lists can become a little confusing, perhaps labeling each new topic with a name rather than a number would make it easier to follow.

A very insightful and interesting read, already added to my favorites list!